CSCL boosts Asia-WCNA loop to 4,000 teu as UASC joins

China Shipping Container Line (CSCL) is to boost the weekly capacity of its Far East to WCNA service ‘ANW1’ from about 2,500 weekly teu to possibly more than 4,000 weekly teu this month. At the same time, UASC will become a vessel provider on the service which links the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze estuary and South Korea with the American Northwest.

Starting mid-May with the phase-in of the 4,051 teu XING CHONG QING, CSCL will successively replace its fleet of 2,500 teu vessels on the ‘ANW1’ with 4,000+ teu ships. At the end of May, UASC joins with the 4,228 teu AMBASSADOR BRIDGE, which the Arab carrier will sub-charter from Japan’s Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha. The replacement of three of the service’s 2,500 teu vessels by larger units has been confirmed so far and three more of the larger ships are expected to follow suit.

USAC had announced its entry to the Far East to WCNA trade in early April, when the line said it would join CSCL on three transpacific services. The newcomer will market its participation in the ‘ANW1’ under the name ‘AWN1’.

The joint ‘ANW1’/’AWN1’ turns in six weeks and employs six ships to maintain weekly sailings. It calls at Busan, Seattle, Vancouver, Nansha, Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai, Ningbo and Busan.

Only very recently, CSCL modified the ‘ANW1’: at the beginning of the year, eco-steaming was implemented and the rotation was extended from five to six weeks. Additionally, the former Vancouver call was removed in March.